Ready Steady Go
by WickedGame
Summary: If it had been any other time Duo Maxwell would have loved to be in Heero's lap, kissing him intensely. 212


Title: Ready Steady Go

Author: WickedGame

Archive: No Rest For the Wicked, my LJ

Rating: PG-13 for language

Genre: Action/fluff/wee bit o' angst

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: Foul language

Notes: Written for Ravensilver and MissSheperdes who are both so very supportive of me. Beta read by Triowing.

Five hundred feet straight down. "Heero, you ready for this?"

"Affirmative. Enemy is at least thirty seconds behind. We made a good decision in taking the vent shaft to this point. Locked and ready?"

"Sure. Why do I always seem to be falling places with you?"

"No clue. On my mark: one, two, three, mark."

And then we were falling. A deep, old thermal vent that would lead somewhere close to the place where we'd hidden our ship. Lord knows hiding the small shuttle at the actual shuttle-port here on L1 would've been a bad decision, so we'd tied it to the end of the thermal vent, hoping it would still be there when we got back. And if it wasn't there then we would be in a whole heap of trouble.

Heero is next to me and we are both spiraling down into the blackness. Calculated time of fall was….hell if I knew. Heero was the one who took care of that shit. I just jumped when he said to jump and threw myself in front of bullets if it looked like Heero was going to be hit. Call me stupid or call me all sorts of things but what can I say… I adore the guy and that's the end of it.

The wind is in my face and the air around us is so very hot. I am sweating intensely from stress and heat, and Heero is faring no better. If it were not for our micro-fiber gloves, I am sure we would've lost each other by now. But his hand is in mine right now, and I feel calmer because of it. He always makes me feel calmer.

Two squeezes to my hand inform me to know we are nearing the exit of the thermal vent. I pull myself in close to Heero and let him shoot the grappling hook meant to hold an ungodly amount of weight. There's a slightly scary moment where I am nearly jerked from Heero's arms by the recoil of the cord, but then he's holding me more securely and we are dangling from the thermal vent. He quickly locks the hook cord to his belt and then takes out a separate gun.

"Status?" I hear his voice inside my helmet.

"All right. You?"

"All right. Preparing to shoot line to vessel. The enemy is probably not far behind us. Do you still have the data?"

I can feel the round disc and the small vial that are tucked carefully in my suit. "Yep, everything's safe. Let's get out of here."

Heero holds me with one arm and shoots a line towards the shuttle. It hits on target, and then he lifts me to grasp the line. He unhooks the first grappling line and then we use our arms to go hand over hand to the shuttle. I reach it first, and then Heero cuts the line. We enter the decompression chamber and risk the faster decompression so that we can escape before the enemy reaches us.

"Well, that went better than expected," I tell Heero as I take the pilot's chair. Heero slides into the co-pilot's chair just as we see a fleet of small shuttles leave the shuttle-port.

"You're going to have to do some great flying to get out of here in one piece." Heero arms the weapons system on the shuttle and I start to fly off.

"Starboard thirty degrees!"

"Port twenty degrees!"

"Damn Heero! Make up your mind!" I'm flying as fast as I can and I'm taking evasive action to get around ship after ship. "These short range shuttles can't even compare with this small ol' shuttle!"

"They're distracting us and delaying us until they can get the longer range ships out to retrieve us!" Heero snaps at me.

"Fuck that!" I open up the engine as much as I can and start flying as if it were still the war and I was still trying to get away from OZ and all their machinations.

It seems like forever but we finally break free of the pursuit and start flying what seems to be off course. In about two hours I will change course, and then we will head toward our real destination. I really can't afford to sleep or anything at this point because we need to keep on alert. "Heero? Why don't you catch a couple of hours sleep? I'll wake you when it's time."

I don't receive a real answer, just a grunt as he closes his eyes. That man can sleep anywhere, I tell you. Just like a child too tired from playing, he will drop off in a millisecond. It's never a deep sleep, more a soldier's sleep; but he sleeps. I sleep the sleep of someone that has to always be aware of what might be lurking in the dark. I guess we're both just useless that way.

I start to think after a while that we may have gotten away too easily. I don't know why, but there's this nagging feeling between my shoulder blades. When our ship changes course I start to look over the ship. Everything seems in order though so I take my place back at the helm.

Heero woke himself up before I do, and we dock on L2-45899 without a problem. We gather up our fake papers and change clothing quickly. This part of the L2 cluster is seedier than most, and attracts people of all shapes and sizes. We need to blend in, and here is a good a place as any. I'm now Skyler Commons and Heero has become Kai Mitsurugi. We're both from Earth and live in America: Seattle, to be exact. The papers say we are on a student pass, so that must mean we are passing as college students.

"We've come a long way from being high schoolers," I remark as we walk. Heero is too quiet. "Status?"

"Suits. We're being tailed. Act naturally until we leave this place. We need to find somewhere dark and crowded to lose them." His voice is stiff.

"How'd they find us?" I wonder.

"I bet they stuck a trace on the ship when we weren't looking. They're trying to track us to our source. We have to lose them and call for extraction. Mission is compromised."

"Damn it!"

We clear the customs areas and make our way onto the streets with our meager belongings. We joke like the cover expects, and we hide our belongings bit by bit in each place we duck inside of.

They're getting closer. I spy a club across the street and tug Heero in that direction. I have a plan, but it will only work if he trusts me. A lot.

The bouncer barely checks our identification before waving us in. The music is bass-heavy and the smell of sweat and stale beer fills the place. But it's crowded despite that fact that it's mid-day and it's even dark. What luck!

We find a corner and ditch the bags finally. The suits are in the building- I can see it on Heero's face. I take off my shirt and my pants, mindful of the data and vial still inside.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asks me.

"Covering. Untuck your shirt and unbutton it." He gives me a weird looks but does as he's told. Good boy. I take out my hair tie and shake my hair until it is loose. Then I flip it over and shake it more. There. "Sit down."

Heero does as he's told. The corner is dark. I am wearing boxer briefs that could be mistaken for extremely short shorts from the back in the dark. The white tank top I am wearing under my shirt could be mistaken for something a woman might wear. I slide onto Heero's lap and straddle so I'm facing him. God, I'd like to be doing this under other circumstances. People are staring and giving us the weirdest looks, but in a place like this we don't seem out of place.

"Kiss me," I tell him. He looks uncertain, so I move forward and kiss him instead. From this vantage point I can only hope that the suits mistake me for some kind of cheap slut and Heero for some kind of bored kid. I wrap myself around Heero tightly and use my hair as a veil around us. I'm kissing him with all that I am, because this may be the only time I ever get to, and also because we need the cover.

Heero snakes his arms around me and holds me close. I'm praying that the suits are passing us by and never even give us a second glance. Heero is shyly returning my kiss, and by god I don't think I could've asked for more from him. Even these little kisses are heaven sent.

After ten minutes or so Heero pulls away a little. "They're gone."

I climb off his lap. My lips are swollen and tingly. My face I know has to be flushed. "Okay." I get re-dressed and follow Heero out a back door.

We reach our safe point about thirty minutes later. Heero goes straight for the signal and hits it. Back up should be here within the hour. They'll get us out of here with the data and the vial.

I'm trying not to think about it. I'm trying not to touch my lips. I braid and re-braid my hair over and over again to use up time and thought. I'm trying not to think about sitting on Heero's lap and his skin and his lips and ohmygod.

I sit down in a corner and close my eyes. I'm tired enough to catch a couple of winks before help arrives.

&&&&&

Heero hasn't said word one to me since we left the L2 cluster. I'm being treated for a few bumps and bruises that were acquired during our escape through the thermal vent, now that we are back on Earth. I know Heero was treated also, but he's already been released and has gone home for a well-deserved vacation.

I barely pay attention as they wrap up a small laceration and I refuse the pain pills they want me to take. Soon I am in my car and driving back to the small apartment I keep for myself.

It's early spring here in Brussels. The buds are just starting to form on the trees and the bulbs are starting to make green spots in the dirt. I like it here. But I can tell it's going to rain. The heavy gray clouds are more than likely just waiting for that barometric pressure to rise just a little more before they start to soak everything in sight.

Cecilia, my fat ginger cat, bugs me for food as soon as I come in the door. She winds herself sinuously around my calves as I dish out some moist food for her. I scratch her head lightly before walking over and feeding my fish. The pregnant one still hasn't laid her eggs though. I'm not even sure that's how fish have babies.

I take a shower and it feels so damned good. I pull on some flannel pants and a t-shirt, and that feels even better. Hours upon hours in a flight suit can really suck.

I had just decided to pop in a movie and more than likely fall asleep when I heard the doorbell ring. I can hear the rain pouring outside and I reason that it must have started while I was showering. I quickly grab a handgun and move to the side of the door. "Who's there?"

"It's me."

I lower the gun and put the safety back on as I recognize Heero's voice."What're you doing here?"

"I needed to see you." I open the door to see a very soaked Heero. He's still wearing his work clothes and looks like seven kinds of hell hit him all at once.

"Get in here! Damn, you're soaked." I run into my hallway and get him a towel. Then I walk into my bedroom and grab a pair of sweat and a t-shirt. "You could catch your death walking around in the rain like that."

"Cold doesn't actually give you a cold. It's the germs that are generated…" His voice trails off as I push him toward the bathroom.

"Shower. Dry off. Put on these clothes. I'm going to make us something to eat." I shut the door in his face and then sigh as I hear the shower start up. Now that was sweet torture, seeing Heero covered in raindrops. Water clinging to his lips like dewdrops and- ah, hell!

I search the fridge and find some leftover chicken. I put it aside and then start a pot of boiling water. Soon I have rice cooking, and some chicken chopped up for reheating.

Heero comes out looking a lot better just as I am mixing the rice and chicken together. "Take a seat."

"No. I – We need to talk."

Right away I get this feeling as if this is way too important for me to talk my way around. "Okay."

"Why did you do that?" His feet are moving and I can tell he's holding onto a kitchen chair right now.

I decide to be vague. If he wants information out of me, then he will need to ask for it outright. "Do what?"

"Damn it. You know what I'm talking about."

"Frankly, no, I don't. I do a lot of things that defy explanation every day."

"Why did you have to do that? I had just gotten my head around things, and then you had to go and do that. You had to… kiss me."

"Ah, so that's what's bothering you. Well, sorry, Heero, but I had to improvise. Saved us from imminent capture, right? So, what's the problem?" Again I hear footsteps, and then he's behind me.

"The problem is that… that's not all that it was to me. And, if I'm reading you right, that's not all there was to it for you, either."

My hand stalls on mixing. "Don't screw with me, Heero. You might not like where it leads you."

His hand covers mine, and then I hear his voice, and it's so damned close."No screwing around about it. Duo, look at me."

I do look at him. I look into his eyes, and I look at the shape of his mouth, and the curve of his cheekbone, and the texture of his hair, and the slight way his nose curves, and … "You're so beautiful." I can't believe I just said that.

His mouth quirks into a small smile, and he brings a hand up to touch my hair.

I forget that there's warm food in a pot on the counter. I forget that I didn't lock the door when he came in. I forget that I'm hungry, and depressed, and lovesick. All that's left is him, and really… that's all I need and want in this world right now.

-The End-


End file.
